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Opening Statement:“With these games in the middle of finals week you never know what you are going to get. I think that Bakersfield came in here having played man-to-man all season and then they sat five people in the paint and played a zone, and for us to be able to knock down some shots and our shooting percentage to go way up and still score 70 points when they are trying every which way to not let us get in a run, in a running up and down game, I am proud of our ability to find a way. I thought that we responded to time outs and the things that I was saying. Obviously we were trying to get to a point where it’s a clean 40 minutes and we’re already starting at that level, but I’m sure that every coach feels that way. I thought that we saw some really exciting things tonight in terms of our ability to adjust to a situation and still find a way to win. So I was pleased with today. We certainly weren’t perfect, but I was pleased with some things that we could build off of and obviously get ready for our big week as we get ready to head off to New York and the Maggie Dixon Classic.”

On if this was a tune-up before playing UConn“I think that, especially for this season, that everything is steps towards who we want to be and how we want to play. So no. Do I think Bakersfield is anything like UConn? No absolutely not, but I think that we are constantly trying to work on us. I think that we learned some things today that we are going to be able to carry over into practice this week and that we are going to be able to carry over when we play UConn, but that’s more of the big picture of every game; it’s more of a season long thing. I think with UConn, we are going to have to prep for them stylistically a certain way, but in terms of where our team is, I think that we will be able to take things away that will help us with our growth.”

On Hind Ben Abdelkader’s shooting tonight“The least surprised people are her teammates and her coaches. Hind is a great shooter. We’re more surprised when she misses. She’s been in the gym a ton. She loves the game of basketball and always takes extra shots. That’s her role, to knock down shots amongst other things. When Gray has three or four people on her, we need people to spread the defense. Hind can be a high-percentage three-point shooter all the time.”

On the shooting effort“This is not that crazy of a thing for us. I don’t know if that makes sense, but we know we have really good outside shooters. Reshanda (Gray) is playing so well that people focus on her, so at some point people are going to knock down shots that need to knock down shots. Hind really knows that role. She’s not one-dimensional. She’s does a lot of other things well too, but her getting in that rhythm felt natural for us. I’m confident and happy for her because I think it builds confidence. She was shooting in the gym the other day and when she hit a couple she said ‘I’m back!’ I told her she was never gone. It is a positive thing for her.”

On losing the rebounding battle“Offensive rebounds are killing us. It’s kind of a reverse of what we’ve always been able to do, and I think that some of it is that we are playing a little bit more pressure defense and doing some zone trapping and there are long rebounds and we have to figure out a way to either get a body on someone or get the ball. There is really no other choice. That has to become very important for our players. We have started to practice it more in practice, which I never used to do because we didn’t need too, and I think that it is a point of emphasis that we need to work on. We will get better at it, I have no doubt about it, and we don’t want it to cost us game in the mean time. It’s something that we really need to focus on, and it’s definitely a weakness.”

California Freshman Guard Hind Ben Abdelkader

On if she always was an outside shooter“Even before (when I was) in Belgium, I was able to score the outside shots. I know that in the two past games I wasn’t really good individually but also as a team. It was good to score some shots because it has been a long time without scoring.”

On if the gameplan was for her to take nine 3-pointers“It wasn’t the plan. My teammates were being defended and I was open, so I shot because no one was guarding me.”

On her mindset during a hot streak“I do the same movement all of the time. The fact that my teammates trust me and they pass me the ball to shoot is a really good feeling.”

On the game atmosphere“It feels good. As I said, it’s really good to see the bench when you score a three-point shot, with everyone up and clapping their hands. It’s a really good feeling to know that you can add something to the team.”

California Junior Forward Reshanda Gray

On Hind Ben Abdelkader’s night“With any of our teammates, we just celebrate when they do something good. It’s a good feeling. When she misses shots we say just keep shooting. (Today) she hit six for nine. That’s amazing.”

On Brittany Shine“It felt really good because she is a hard worker and now her hard work is starting to pay off. So it was really exiting to hit the three.”

On facing UConn next week“I am very excited. We’re going to be in New York, Madison Square Garden. I get to play against Bria Hartley, Stefanie Dolson, Kaleena [Mosqueda-Lewis], I got to play with them on the USA team, but it’s going to be a lot of fun getting to play against them.”